Cushions and method of making same



Jan. 1, 1957 K. B. .OSBORN CUSHIONS AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME Filed July' 8, 1953 INVENTOR. KM/S.

United States Patent CUSHIONS AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME Kenneth B. Osborn, Newton, Mass, assignor to General Latex & Chemical Corporation, Cambridge, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Application July 8, 1953, Serial No. 366,760

6 Claims. (Cl. 155-179) This invention relates to fabricated materials, such as cushions of various forms, including seat cushions, cushions used in upholstery, mattresses, and other padded bodies.

The cushioning materials commonly regarded as the best are curled hair and foam rubber. The latter of these materials, in particular, is expensive, and that fact has been a serious deterent to its use for cushioning purposes. Also, in the case of a thick cushion made entirely of foam rubber, there is present, to an objectionable degree, a lateral instability or side sway. In an effort to provide a cheaper type of cushion construction the use of various other fibers have been proposed but have not proven to be as satisfactory as curled hair or foam rubber, due to the fact that they lose bulk when subjected to compressive forces and, moreover, take a permanent set resulting in an undesirable volume decrease.

It is an object of the present invention to deal with the problems indicated and to devise a cushion construction in which certain classes of relatively cheaper fibers are combined with foam rubber, or other binder material, to provide for dimensional stability and resistance of a satisfactory nature, and yet the cost of such a product is maintained substantially lower than that of either foam rubber or curled hair.

These and other objects and novel features will be more fully understood and appreciated from the following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a perspective view of the improved cushion material of the invention;

Fig. 2 is another perspective view of different cushion structures; and

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view of still another modification.

The present invention is based on the discovery that for many purposes entirely satisfactory cushions can be made by combining batts or webs of curled fibers, such as the agave fibers, with foam rubber parts where these foam rubber parts are built into the batts or webs in a particular manner so as to impart improved characteristics to the webs.

Thus I find that by working agave fibers, such as istle fibers, into a plurality of batts or webs, in which the fibers are arranged to lie or extend substantially in the planes of the respective webs and are lightly held together by means of a sprayed binder of rubber, or other suitable material, I am enabled to develop resistance to side sway in a cushion body. When a plurality of these webs are superimposed upon one another they are found to have sufficient resistance to side sway to satisfy requirements on this point and to comprisea means for drawback by locating transversely disposed holes through the webs and then introducing rubber foam dowels in the holes so that the fibers of constituent webs are attached to the dowels. These dowels then cooperate with the fibers to resist compressive forces seeking to compact the webs together, and function to preserve the normal bulk of the cushion body throughout its working life. It is pointed out that the fibers in this way combine with the foam rubber dowels to prevent the occurrence of side sway normally inherent in the foam rubber since the fibers of the respective webs resist forces exerted laterally of these webs.

Referring to the drawings, Fig. 1 shows, in general, a cushion body 2 which is made of a plurality of webs or batts of a fibrous cushioning material. As examples of one suitable type or class of fiber there may be cited agave fibers and, in particular, istle fibers. In addition, I may desire to form the webs or batts from Tampico, cocoanut, or similar vegetable fibers. The fibers of the webs or batts are, in accordance with the invention, arranged to lie substantially flatwise in the planes of the respective webs. In this position the fibers are treated with a sprayed binder of rubber or other adhesive, and this produces stability and resistance to forces acting in the planes of the webs of material. In fabricating the istle or other fibers desired to be used, these fibers are initially curled in rope form and then untwisted and passed through a picker for opening and cleaning. The fibers are then volumetrically passed to a carding machine or garnet to form webs. The webs so discharged may be transferred by a lapper to a slowly moving conveyor extending at right angles and there is thus produced a batt of superimposed webs. These superimposed webs may occur in varying thicknesses and may be sprayed or otherwise saturated by a binder, such as latex or rubber dispersions, dried, compressed to a standard gauge, and cured.

In accordance with the invention I provide openings which extend transversely through these webs while superimposed upon one another, and in the openings thus formed I locate a plurality of dowels, as 3, which are constructed and arranged to extend transversely through each of the fibrous webs at right angles to the direction in which the fibers seek to lie. The dowels may extend completely through the fibrous body or only through a portion of its thickness, as desired, but they should at least extend through the greater part of its thickness.

The holes through which the dowels are located may be made either in connection with the production of the fiber body of the cushion, or by cutting out sections of the material with tubular cutters which exclude the fibers from those portions of the body which later are to be occupied by the rubber elements. Also, in making up the fibrous body a small quantity of some stabilizing binder, such as noted above, may be sprayed or otherwise introduced into the fiber as it is thus formed so that after the binder is set, the shapes and dimensions of the holes produced by the studs, or the like, and also the shape of the body itself, will tend to be preserved through the subsequent operation of introducing the rubber elements.

After this fibrous body has been made the rubber can be introduced into the holes either in a liquid or semiliquid form, uncured, or self-curing, or it can be solid but made in suitable shapes and sizes to fit into the holes so that it can be introduced as cured preformed pieces. The latter may be made of ground foam-like rubber pieces cemented together and dried or cured sufficiently to give them the necessary stability for introduction into the holes in the fiber body.

If the foam rubber is used in a liquid form, it can be poured into the holes while the cushion body rests on a suitable support and later cured in place either in a vulcanizing oven or simply by air curing if the composition has been made for a cure of this type.

Obviously cushions may be made by this method of any desired shape or dimensions within reaSQnable limits, and the product has. physical properties much more, agree. able for a cushioning material than that afforded by the fibrous constituent alone, while also having greater lateral stability than an all-foam cushion, and being substantially less expensive.

The foam can be produced by methodsnow commonly used in the rubber industry, the base materials being natural or synthetic rubber latex, Or. dispersions of the nature well known for this purpose tov the rubber-working art. An example of a suitable form material is, disclosed in U. 5. Pat. No. 1,852,447, granted April 5, 1932, but others which involve gas blowing, vacuum expansion, chemical gas production, and the like, are also suitable for use in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 2 shows another construction in which the fiber body is indicataed at 4 and the dowels at 5, but in this cushion the dowels are made of substantially greater diameter adjacent to the opposite ends than at the middle, thus providing abrupt or tapered shoulders 6. at intermediate points in the length of the dowels which serve to mechanically interlock them with the fibers of the body 4.

If the rubber is introduced into the holes in the body 2 or body 4, Figs. 1 and 2, respectively, while it is in a fluid condition, even though very viscous, it will enter the interstices between the fibers and when it sets up it will be mechanically interlocked with the fiber body. Also, if the dowels are preshaped and are inserted in the holes in an uncured state and the entire body later is subjected to vulcanization under heat, a sufiicient flow of the rubbery material into the adjacent fibrous surfaces. will occur to effect the desired interlocking,

It is also intended that the dowels or other specific forms of the reinforcing foam may be introduced into the fiber mass in an inclined or angularly disposed position, such as suggested by the angular dowels 7 and 8, Fig. 3, to increase resistance to side sway and thus develop greater lateral stability, and this lateral supporting efiect may be increased by arranging pairs of dowels in oppositely inclined positions, as shown in Fig. 3.

It is pointed out that in any and all of these structures there is provided an improved cushion construction which has appreciable dimensional stability satisfactory for purposes of a cushion body. By providing a plurality of webs of curled fiber and binder and arranging these fibers so that they lie fiatwise, there can be built up the necessary resistance to side sway which is normally inherent in a body containing an appreciable quantity of foam rubber. At the same time it will be observed that substantial amounts of the fiber are employed to. desirably lower the cost of the cushion body and to make it possible to employ portions of foam rubber in amounts which are not prohibitive from a cost standpoint. Finally, the principal objection to use of these relatively non-resilient classes of fibers, which is their tendency to pack and" lose bulk under compression, can be satisfactorily offset and compensated for by employing the rubber foam dowels in sufiicient number and of such magnitude that a certain degree of resiliency is imparted to the cushion body and the webs can be maintained in substantially fixed relationship with respect to one another, thus preserving substantially the original bulk in which the cushion body is made and sold.

From the foregoing it will be evident that the invention provides a cushion structure in which the degree. of resilience can be readily determined and varied to suit the conditions under which they are to be used. The. frequency of the inserts and the load carrying capacity of such is capable of variation. In addition, the invention provides an economical method of making cushions of this type, particularly because no molds are required in producing the cushion body itself, although it may be found CPI more convenient to mold certain types of dowels. However, if the dowels are made in situ, then the holes in the fibrous body determine the shape and dimensions of the dowels.

The term foam is intended to mean the combination of gas cells within a media of rubber or rubberlike materials, either natural or synthetic rubber, as well as in all the many elastomers known to the plasticizing rubber industry. It is further intended that there may be used, in special cases, any of these materials into which gas has not been incorporated.

While I have herein shown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention and the manufacturing procedure at present preferred, it will be evident that the invention may be embodied in other forms and that variations may be introduced in the practice of the method while still retaining the essential features of this invention. In fact, some variations necessarily will be required in order tosatisfy the conditions under which the cushions are to be made or used.

This application is a continuation-in-part of my earlier application Ser. No. 134,706, filed December 23, 1949, for Improvements in Cushions and Methods of Making Same, now abandoned.

Having thus described my invention, what I desire to claim as new is:

1. An improved cushion construction comprising a fibrous body which includes a plurality of webs of curled agave fiber and binder, said webs being superimposed upon one another in a position such that they are normally subject to a reduction in bulk if exposed to compressive forces, constituent fibers of respective webs being arranged to lie substantially in the planes of said webs and being interlocked together to impart side sway resistance to the fibrous body as a whole, said fibrous body being further formed with openings which extend transversely and entirely through the webs, and a plurality of reinforcing dowels. of foam rubber located in and extending entirely through said openings, said dowels being attached to. adjacent fibers of each of the webs and cooperating therewith to resist compacting of the webs against one another and to preserve the bulk of said webs substantially constant during the working life of the cushion construction said dowels having ends larger than their middle portions to provide shoulders which serve to interlock them with the fibers of the body.

2. A structure as defined in claim 1, in which the agave fiber consists of a curled istle fiber.

3. An improved cushion construction comprising a fibrous body which includes a plurality of webs of curled fiber and binder, said webs being superimposed upon one another in a position such that they are normally subject to a reduction in bulk if exposed to compressive forces, said fibrous body having openings. formed transversely through the constituent webs, and a plurality of reinforcing dowels. of a resilient rubber located through said openings, said dowels being attached to adjacent fibers of each of the webs to prevent compacting of the fibers and to. preserve the bulk of said webs substantially constant during the use of the cushion construction said dowels having ends larger than their middle portions to.

provide shoulders which serve to interlock them with the fibers of the body.

4. An improved cushion body comprising a shaped mass of fibrous material which includes superimposed webs of istle fiber and binder, said cushion body being formed with openings extending transversely entirely through the webs, a, plurality of reinforcing dowels of rubber material located in the said openings and extending throughout the length of the openings and having intermediate body portions. attached to the istle fibers of each of the said webs, said dowels presenting a suflicient mass. to normally support the cushioning body to prevent compacting of the fibers and to. maintain fibers of the said e in, substanti lly fixe rel ion hip; to one another said' dowels extending through the fiber mass in an inclined or angularly disposed position.

5. An improved cushion body comprising a collapsible mass of istle fibers normally subject to permanent deformation when exposed to compressive forces, said fibers arranged to extend substantially horizontally of the cushion body, and said cushion body presenting a plurality of openings which extend vertically entirely therethrough at right angles to the direction in which the said fibers extend, a plurality of rubber dowels secured in said openings and extending entirely throughout the openings to reinforce the fibers against iorces seeking to collapse the fibers upon one another said dowels extending through the fiber mass in an inclined or angularly disposed position.

6. An improved cushion construction comprising a fibrous body which includes a plurality of webs of curled agave fiber and binder, said webs being superimposed upon one another in a position such that they are normally subject to a reduction in bulk if exposed to compressing forces, constituent fibers of respective webs being arranged to lie substantially in the planes of said webs and being interlocked together to impart side sway resistance to the fibrous body as a whole, said fibrous body being further formed with openings which extend transversely and entirely through the webs, and a plurality of reinforcing dowels of foam rubber located in and extending entirely through said openings, said dowels being attached to adjacent fibers of each of the webs and cooperating therewith to resist compacting of the webs against one another and to preserve the bulk of said webs substantially constant during the working life of the cushion construction.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,565,267 Fowler Dec. 15, 1925 2,244,097 Burkart June 3, 1941 2,290,614 Rathbon July 21, 1942 2,688,152 Marco Sept. 7, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 446,300 Great Britain Apr. 28, 1936 

